Liquid-oxygen container with controlled boiling rate



Dec. 8, 1925. v 1,564,612

, c MOTT LIQUID OXYGEN CONTAINER WITH CONTROIIIJED BOILING RATE Filed Nov. 18. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l I M 1 MW Afmzmy v Dec. 8, 192-5. 1,564,612

c. MQTT LIQUID OXYGEN CONTAINER WITH CONTROLLED BOILING RATE Filed Nov. 18. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES PArEN'r OFFice.

OHEsTEn MOTT, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

T runox COMPANY, OF: DENVER, COLORADO, a CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

LIQUID-OXYGEN CONTAINER WITH CONTROLLED BOILING Application filed November 18, 1924.. Serial No. 750,560.

- containers suitable for the shipping and storing of liquid gases, such as liquid oxygen.

Liquid oxygen is of use in various arts,

and it is therefore necessary to provide con-' tainers for the shipping and storing thereof. Since liquid oxygen has a very low boiling point, such containers are required to have especially high heat insulating characteristics. A type of container which has proved very suitable for this use has an evacuated space surrounding the chamber of the container, this serving to efficiently exclude heat and to prevent an appreciable evaporation of liquid oxygen contained therein. There is one pronounced disadvantage with 'these containers, and that is that it is diflicult to pour the liquid gas therefrom. This is due to the fact that the pouring neck of the container is very small in cross section, this being essential to the container. It is necessary that air pass inwardly through this pouring neck in order to fill a space created in the chamber if the liquid isto flow therefrom. It will readily be appreciated that this interference of air to the outward flow of liquid gas makes the pouring thereof extremely slow, and a con siderable loss by evaporation is incurred thereby.

It is an object of this invention to provide for a container of this character a means or increasing the pouring rate thereof. T is I accomplish by providing means for creating a pressure inside the liquid gas chamber which is efficacious in forcing the liquid from the chamber at a speed much faster than in the present types of containers. For creating this pressure I supply heatto the chamber, which causes the liquid to boil, expand and consequently create a pressure inside the chamber. The expansion of the liquid gas fills up the space above the liquid as the liquid is poured, and there by bringing is no need of any inward flow of air through the pouring spout, and consequently no interference with the egressing liquid.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a container of this class a means for bridging across the evacuated space surrounding the chamber of the container, this bridging means serving to conduct heat from the exterior of the evacuated space to the liquid gas chamber, this bridging being arranged to be brought into bridging position when itis desired to pour liquid from the container.

It is another object 'of this invention to provide an electrically operated means for moving said bridging means into bridging position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means for supplying heat to said bridging means. This is preferably accomplished by providing a coil which serves two purposes. The coil is arranged to be energized in such a manner as to attract the bridging means and to move it into bridging position. The coil, due to current passing therethrough, becomes heated and heats the bridging means, through which bridging means heat is transferred to the chamber and the liquid therein is caused to boil.

It is a still further Object of this invention to provide a. means for controlling the boiling rate of the liquid in the container. To accomplish this, I provide a construction for bringin into operation one or more of a plurality 0 heat supplying units. If itris desiredto increase the flow of liquid from the container, the boiling rate is increased into operation an additional heat supplying unit, this being accomplished by operation of the above mentioned controlling means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention Will be made evident hereinafter. v

Referring to the drawing which is for illustrative purpose only,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a containerhaving the features of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the container shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 .'s an enlar ed fragmentary sec tional view showing in detail the construo- 1 tion of one of the supplying units.

such as copper.

usual condltions, rest inside. the tubes 31,

, Fig. 4 is essentially a diagrammatic view illustrating the means for bring ng into operation the heat supplying units for controlling the boiling rate-of the liquid oxy As shown in the drawing, especially in Fig. 1, a liquid gas container 11 is provided. This container 11 comprises an inner shell 12 having a liquid gas chamber 13. Extending from the shell 12 and in communication with he chamber 13 is a spout 14, which is of a comparatively small cross section, as shown. Around the inner shell 12 is an outer shell 16 having a neck 17. The shell 16 provides an evacuated space 19 which serves as a heat insulation means for excluding heat from the chamber 11. The neck 17 is closed by a suitable plug 21, this plug being secured in place in any suitable manner, such as by welding or soldering. The construction so far, described is that of the present type of -liquid gas container. From the drawing it is evident that a: pouring of liquid gas therefrom is very slow, as previously mentioned, owing tothe small cross section of the pouring spout 14. When liquid is to be poured from the container- 11, the container is inverted; and in order that the liquid egress through the spout 14, it is necessary for air to levitate through the spout in order to fill a space at the upper part of the chamber 13 which is created by the egression of liquid gas from this chamber.

My'invention, as previously stated, broadly comprises a means for controlling or increasing the boiling rate of the gas in the chamber 13. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, my invention is provided in the form of a plurality of heat supplying units 30, which may be arranged in any suitable manner, preferably adjacent to the bottom of the container, and there may be any number as desired. As shown in detail in Fig. 3, each of the units 30 comprises a tube 31 which extends outwardly from and is secured to the outer shell 16 by screwing into an opening 32 provided in this outer shell 16. To prevent a leaky joint, it may be desirable to solder around the tube at the point at which it extends into the shell 16. The outer end of each tube 31 is closed by a cap 33. Situated on each of the tubes 31 is a solenoid coil 35. Resting within each tube 31 is a bridge member 36, these bridge members 36 each comprising two portions, a portion 37 being formed of a magnetizable material and an upper portion 38 which has high heat conducting qualities, The bridges 38, under the bridges 36 falling into this position, as shown in Fig. 1, due to gravity. When a coil 35 is energized, magnetic lines of force are set up which attract the portion 37 of a bridge 36, drawing this magnetizable section 37 upwardly to a position within a tube 31, which is directly inside this coil 35. This movement brings the upper end 40 of this bridge 36 into-"contact with one of bearing plates 41, which are secured to the external face of the inner shell 12. These bearing plates 41 are preferably made from a heat conducting material, such as copper. The solenoid coil 35 fwill be heated by the current passing therethroughi. This heataiaturally radiates to the bridge member 36, passing through the bridge member 36 to the bearing plate 41, and heats the shell 12 in this vicinity. This serves to supply heat to the liquid gas and cause a boiling thereof. It will be recognized thatthe bridge member 36 serves as a means for conveying heat across the evacuated insulating space. 19. The bridge 36 ordinarily rests entirely within the tube 31 and extends through the evacuated space 19 and contacts the bearing plate 41 only at a time when the coil 35 is energized and when it is desired to cause the liquid gas to boil. The coil 35, in addition to serving as a means for extending the bridge 36 through the evacuated space 19, also serves as a means for heating the bridge 36. h

In Fig. 4 of the drawing I show diagrammatically the control means presented by my invention. Connecting to one end of each of the solenoid coils 35 of each unit 30 is a conductor 45, these conductors 45 in turn connecting with a circuit wire 46. Extending from the opposite ends of each of the coils 35 is a conductor 47, these conductors being in turn-connected to individual contacts 48,,these contacts 48 being a part of a control construction 49 of my invention. A movable segmental contact plate 50 is provided which pivots at 51 and which is supplied with electric current through a circuit wire 52. hen it is desired to cause liquid gas in the container 11 to boil, the segmental plate 50 is rotated so as to contact one or more of the individual contacts 48. This allows electric current which is supplied to the segment 50 through the wire 52 to flow through the contacts 48. and the wires 47 connecting therewith, and to energize the solenoids 35 to which these wires connect, the current being carried from the coils 35 through the wires 45 which convey it to the circuit wire 46. When the segment 50 is rotated into the position indicated by the dotted lines 53 of Fig. 4,'two of the units 30 will be utilized. If it is desired to increase the boiling rate of the liquid gas, the segment 50 is rotated so as to contact with additional individual contacts 48 If desired, the segmental contact 50 may be rotated half a revolution and .engage all of the contacts 48, bringing into operation all of the heat supplying units 30.

Myinvention, as is clearly evident from the description and drawing, in no way interferes with the insulating qualities of the container on which it is used, this being because of the fact that this particular con- ,struction allows the bridge 36 to be retracted from the evacuated space 19 when not in use. The units 30, when energized, serve effectively to cause the liquid gas to flow from the container at a much greater speed than is obtainable at the present time. The novel construction of utilizing only the desired number of unitsprovides a novel manner for controlling the boiling rate of the liquid gas. Ihe unique feature. of utilizing the coil 35, both as a means for extending the bridge 36 into heat conveying position and heating the bridge 36, is an appreciable asset to the. device. 7

I claim as my invention: I

1. In a'contain'er for liquid gas, the combination of: an 'inner shell having a liquid gas chamber; an outer shell, said outer shell providing an insulating chamber around said inner shell; tube members extending from said outer shell; a bridge arranged in said tube; and means for moving said bridge-into contact with said inner shell.

2. In a container for liquid gas, the combination of: an inner shell having a liquid gas chamber; an outer shell, said outer shell providing an insulating chamber around said inner shell; tube members extending from said outer shell; a bridge arranged in v said tube; and a solenoid coil for moving said bridge into contact with said inner shell.

3. In a container for liquid gas, the combination of: an inner shell having a liquid gas chamber; an outer shell, said outer shell providing an insulating chamber around said inner shell; tube members extending from said outer shell; a bridge arranged in said tube; and a solenoid coil'for moving said bridge into contact with said inner shell, said solenoid coil being arranged to supply heat to said bridge for boiling said. liquid gas.

l. A container as in claim 3 in which said bridge is arranged to contact with an abutment secured to said inner shell.

5. In a container for liquid gases, the combination of: an inner shell; an outer shell, said outer shell providing an evacuated insulating space around said inner shell; a plurality of units .I'or supplying heat through said evacuated space, said units each comprisinga bridge, a tube into which said bridge is arranged to rest, a solenoid coil for moving said bridge into contact with said inner shell and for heating said bridge; and means for supplying energy to said heat supplying means.

6. In a container for liquid gases, the combination of: an inner shell; an outer shell, said outer shell providing an evacuated insulating space-around said inner shell; a plurality of units for supplying heat through said evacuated space, said units each comprising a bridge, a tube into which said bridge is arranged to rest, a solenoid coil for moving said bridge into contact with said inner shell and for heating said bridge; .and means for selectively energizing said solenoid coils. V

7. In a container, the combination of: an inner shell; an outer shell surrounding said inner shell, a heat insulating space be- ,ing provided between said shells; a movable member-adapted to thermally bridge said insulating space and to provide a heat conducting path between said shells; and means for moving said member into a position to so bridge said space. Y

8. In a container, the combination of: an inner shell; an outer shell surrounding said inner shell, a heat insulating space being provided between said shells from which the air is partially exhausted: a. movable member adapted to thermally bridge said insulating space and to provide a heat conducting path between said shells; and means for moving said member into'aposition to so bridge said space.

9. In a container, the combination of: an inner shell; an outer shell surrounding said inner shell, a heat insulating space being provided between said shells; a movable memberadapted to thermally bridge said insulating space and to provide a heat conber adapted to'thcrmally bridge said insulating space and to provide a heat conducting path betwcen said shells; and elecr trically operated n'leans for moving said member into a position to so'bridge said space.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 13th day of November, 1924. CHESTER MOTT. 

